Legal updates

Last week the Court of Appeal upheld the earlier decision in Donelien v Liberata UK Limited; this related to the assertion by an employer that they did not have constructive knowledge of an employee's disability and therefore had no duty to make reasonable...

B-M and B-M v Oxfordshire County Council (SEN) [2018] UKUT 35 (AAC) The recent case of B-M and B-M v Oxfordshire County Council provides some much-welcomed clarity in relation the specificity that should appear in section F of an Education Health and Care...

The Mental Capacity Act is the law which guides professionals in how to manage decision making for people over the age of 16 years, where the person is unable to make the decision for themselves. It also provides guidance for people over 18 years of age...

In the recent case of the Chief Constable of Norfolk v Coffey the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) considered an appeal by the Chief Constable of a case that went against them in the Employment Tribunal (ET). What was interesting about this case is that it...

One question parents often ask us is: “If I don’t win my tribunal appeal, will I have to pay the local authority’s costs”? To answer the question, we first have to look at Rule 10, The Tribunal Procedure (First-tier Tribunal) (Health, Education and Social Care...

We are often contacted by parents who say that they their son/ daughter needs an EHCp but the local authority (LA) says that this is not necessary as the mainstream school they attend has “Access to the provision their child needs to meet their needs”. The LA’s...

The recent case of KE v Lancashire County Council (SEN) [2017] UKUT 468 (AAC) provides a useful reminder of the importance of applying section 9 The Education Act 1996 when calculating comparative costs. The decision can be found here but in summary it involved...

Minister of State at the Department for Education, Robert Goodwill MP, has recently announced a “Multi-million pound package …. to support children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities” Relatively speaking, the cost is a small percentage of...

This is an interesting case which examines meaning and proper application of the expression “educates or trains” in the context of section 21(5) of the Children and Families Act 2014. This provides as follows: “(5) Health care provision or social care provision which...

'SEN and EHCP' workshop on 8th November 'SEN and Social Care workshop' on 30th November with our Legal advisor Sean Kennedy. £15 per workshop including lunch 10 am until 2 pm at our Charity Office in Uxbridge Middlesex. To book tickets and for further information...

An interesting case from late last year (2016) provided some significant points of clarification which would be of interested to anyone involved with Education Health and Care plans (EHCP). The case concerned a young man called Theo who had been diagnosed with,...

Any business needs to approach the issue of disability from the perspective of both their staff and their customers. For a company to be fully inclusive, the importance of both groups need to given equal weight. But for inclusion to work, it is important to stress...

Your recent conference just was an emotional day for us as the talks we went to, from experiences by parents, shows how important it is to find organisations such as yourselves and not to be frightened to stand up for all children and know where to get the help. It's...

STATEMENT REGARDING BAKER SMALL FROM Anna Kennedy Online Anna Kennedy Online has received many contacts from its supporters regarding messages posted on social media by law firm Baker Small, a firm who is notorious for the approach it uses when representing Local...

The Department of Education is seeking views on proposed improvements to the way that high needs funding is distributed, and other ways we can support the administration of funding for pupils and students with special educational needs (SEN) and disabilities, and for...

There is no doubt that many teachers understand how disability equality can be promoted in school. That said, many teachers have told AKO that more could be done to promote understanding and awareness. To assist in meeting this challenge The Equality and Human...

In late November, 2015 the Department of Education published the: Governance handbook for trustees of academies and multiacademy trusts and governors of maintained schools. A copy of this document can be found here:...

The Children and Families Act 2014 created a new category of carer, the Parent Carer – defined as people with parental responsibility looking after disabled children. Local authorities are required to assess parent carers on the ‘appearance of need’ i.e. if it...